Jeff Bobo

ROGERSVILLE — A Hawkins County woman is hoping someone can help police find the culprits who slit the throat of one of her cows Wednesday, and then cut a large tenderloin out of the cow’s back.

Thelma Matthews told the Hawkins County Sheriff’s Office that around noon Wednesday she’d fed several holstein cows in a field off of Butcher’s Valley Road, which is in a far southern area of Hawkins County near the Greene County line.

When she returned to the area she found one of the cows laying about 30 feet from the road in a position which led her to believe it was dead, and not sleeping.

She observed a 5-6 inch gap down its back, and initially she thought it may have been killed coyotes.

Matthews requested that the HCSO respond to fill out an incident report.

“After they took pictures they told me it had been cut with a knife,” Matthews told the Times-News Thursday. “They turned it over, and showed me where someone had sliced its neck, and then they cut that area at the top on one side of its backbone the length of its back. They took that tenderloin off of it, off of one side.”

Matthews said she doesn’t believe she’s made an enemy who would do this.

She said it must have been someone passing by who saw an opportunity to get some quick meat.

“It was still steaming when the cops rolled it over to investigate it,” Matthews said. “It was done right before dark. I don’t know why in the world anyone would do that. They took what I call the tenderloin, and they only took one side, so it was probably done real quick.”

She said the meat was probably valued at $400-$500, but she was more upset about the way her cow was killed.

“I love my cows,” Matthews said. “That’s my thing. These are bottle raised babies. Generally holsteins, when they’re bottle fed like that, are more tame. Most of the time they won’t let just anyone handle them, but they won’t just run away like other cattle.” Matthews added.

Anyone who may have witnessed the killing or has information about the killing is asked to contact the HCSO at 423-272-4848.